Singer Carolyn Wonderland bringing Texas blues to R.I. concert

Thursday

May 18, 2017 at 9:30 PM

She's also a songwriter who's also noted for her fierce guitar skills.

By Susan McDonaldSpecial to The Journal

For someone who sings with a scorching, raspy voice many have compared to Janis Joplin's and delivers powerful, passionate blues songs, Carolyn Wonderland speaks softly and deliberately and giggles an awful lot.

In a phone conversation from her home in Austin, Texas, Wonderland (born Carolyn Bradford) pauses for effect when talking about her rising star in the music industry. She is modest and almost timid without a microphone in front of her and one of her instruments — piano, accordion, mandolin, trumpet, lap steel guitar or guitar — at her fingertips.

“In a room full of musicians, I’m a singer, and in a room full of singers, I’m a musician,” she says with a soft giggle. “I was always hollerin’ as a kid and everyone in my mother’s family played music so there was always something I could put my paws on.”

Growing up in Texas, the music was more country and gospel, but when an underage Wonderland headed out to the clubs, the blues ones were the places she could sneak into.

“And, it was Houston — there’s lots of great guitar players there,” she says of her introduction to the world of blues, a genre that has captivated her ever since. She mentions influences such as Little Screamin’ Kenny and Doug Sahm.

“Since I was 8, music was the only thing that held my interest,” says the woman who dropped out of high school to pursue her music. “It’s perpetually a mystery — there are always seven or eight different ways you can go with something. It’s nice to go to different instruments and try a new sound.”

Noted for her fierce skills on the guitar — Broadway World likened it to “the guitar slinging skills of Stevie Ray (Vaughan)” — Wonderland is a songwriter with great insight as well as a masterful musician.

Music from her albums — “Alcohol & Salvation,” “Bloodless Revolution,” “Miss Understood” and “Peace Meal” — have been played in television shows such as “Time of Your Life” and “Homicide.”

It wasn’t until 2014, however, that Wonderland says she thought seriously about putting together a live album, although she admits her performances are best live because they are hot and full of life. She chose three distinct music venues in Texas to record — Antone’s in Austin, Kessler Theater in Dallas and Last Concert Café in Houston — and named the piece “Live Texas Trio.”

“I wanted three different sounds and three different audiences. Some songs come to life in different ways in different places. You can feel the electricity in the air — or if it’s not there, too.”

The album features her band — Cole El-Saleh on keyboard and bass and Rob Hooper on drums — as well as special appearances by Guy Forsyth and Shelley King on several tracks. She also blends her own music with covers of Leon Russell’s “Palace of the King,” Ashford & Simpson’s “Let’s Go Get Stoned” and other pieces by Doug Sahm, Blind Willie Johnson and Larry Campbell.

“I love working together with other musicians on my songs — there’s more of a chance for glory,” she giggles, adding that, “’Judgment Day Blues’ is the one I most collaborate on and I never tell people how to play it. There are so many ways to go with it — changing the bass or something like that.”

Although she’s been dubbed the queen of the blues, Wonderland’s music often shows hints of swing, zydeco, gospel, soul and country and she claims she is “not an expert at any type of music — I play whatever moves me.”

For now, she’s in search of balance — a place where she can be “out on the road long enough to want to come home, and home long enough to want to hit the road” — as well as writing better and collaborating more with friends.

Susan McDonald is a regular contributor to The Providence Journal. She can be reached at Sewsoo1@verizon.net.